Skimming-trough for blast-furnaces.



No. 665,162. Patentsd lan. l, |9016.` F. E. BACHMAN. SKIIIMING THOUGH FOR BLAST FUBNAOES.-

(Lpplicion led Aug. 31, 1900.)

(No Model.)

FFSVMW'# UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. BAOHMAN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SKIMMING-TROUGH FOR BLAST-FURNACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 665,162, dated January I, 1901.

i Application filed August 31, 1900'. Serial No. 28,690. (No model.)

To @ZZ wtom t may concern;

-Be it known that I, FRANK E. BAOHMAN, a citizenof the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Skimming-Troughs for` Blast- Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the skimmingtroughs employed forseparatin g molten metal from slag as the metal iows from a blastfurnace or other melting-furnace to the molds. A skimming-trough of this kind is shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 636,885, granted to me November 14, 1899. Heretofore these troughs have consisted of a contin nous metal trough containing the skimming-barrier and the dam or ofa shortJ metal trough located next to the furnace and a sand trough forming a continualion thereof and containing the skimmingbarrier and the dam. The last-mentioned trough is open to the well-known objection that if the sand is damp or contains any scrap or clay the molten metal will boil, causing the lossof the cast and greatly endangering the workmen. 'Ihe continuous metal skiinming trough while free from the above objection is objectionable for the reason that if the iron and slag become chilled in the trough it is exceedingly di'liicult to remove them, as there is but little, if any, chance of obtaining a hold on the chilled mass for lifting it out of the trough.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of a trough of this kind which while affording the advantages of a metal trough permits the convenient removal of the metal from the trough in the event of chilling.

A further object of the invention is to effect a more perfect draining of the slag from the trough.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of my improved skimming-trough. Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sections in lines 3 3 and 4 4E, Fig. l.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A is the trough, and B the skimming-barrier, which is preferably removably arranged in vertical grooves or ways b, formed in enlargements o of the side walls of the trough, as shown in my Letters Patent. hereinbefore referred to.

C is the dam, which is also preferably removable from the trough and arranged in vertical guideways c, similar to the ways b. The dam is preferably provided in its lower edge with a drain-opening c, which is closed during the casting operation by a quantity of sand c2 banked against the front side of the dam.

The body of my improved trough consists of two or more met-al sections a a, preferably of iron, and one or more intervening sections a of sand, loam, or other suitable refractory and friable material interposed between adjacent metal sections, so that the trough is made up of alternating metal and sand sections, the joints of which extend crosswise of the trough.

The trough shown in the drawings is comsections and practically form a continuationv of the latter in the ordinary use of the trough. Under the adjacent ends of the metal sections ct are placed met-al sealing-plates or brick slabs D, which rest upon the ground. These plates cover the bottom portions of the sand sections and keep the moisture from the damp ground out of contact with the sand sections and also prevent the molten metal in the trough from reaching the damp ground and causing boiling of the metal.

In casting withv my improved trough' the molten metal flows from the furnace under the skim ming-barrier B and over the dam O and thence to the molds. During the latter portion of the iow when the metal stops running from the furnace and the level falls below the top of the dam the banked sand c2 behind the dam is removed to allow theremaining metal in the Ytrough to flow through the opening c' of the dam. When this vremaining metal has run out of the trough, a

IOO

drain-opening for the discharge of the slag is formed in the side and the lower portion of one of the sand sections a', preferably in the sand section above the skimming-barrier, as shown bydotted line in Fig. 3. By discharging the slag at a point above the skimmingbarrier instead of at apoint between the barrier and the dam the slag is more perfectly drained, because it is not dammed back by the barrier, and the solid pieces of coke or cold slag which are contained in the slag or float on its surface and which will not pass under the skimming-barrier are free to pass out through said drain-opening, which latter may be made as large as is necessary for this purpose.V This also increases the life of the skimming-barrier, inasmuch as less material passes under it, and the same is therefore cut away to a correspondingly less extent.

In case the metal and slag become chilled or are so cold that they will not drain out of the trough or the furnace produces buckshot, which will not drain and is exceedingly heavy, thc dam C is removed and one or more of the friable sand sections a' are dug out or broken away nnderand around the solid mass or runner77 and removed from between the ends of the adjacent metal sections. This leaves an unobstructed space between the opposing ends of the metal sections, which permits a lever to be placed under the runner for lifting it out of the trough or a chain of a suitable hoisting apparatus to be passed entirely around the runner, or, if desired, after removing the portion of the sand section underneath the runner the latter can be broken into short pieces of the length of the metal trougl1-sections, which pieces can be more easily handled than the entire runner.

The plates or slabs D also serve as a solid base or rest for a lever or other tool which may he employed for removing a chilled runner from the trough.

I claim as my inventionl. A sectional skimming-trough composed of two or more metal sections and a friable section or sections of refractory material interposed between the metal sections, su bstantially as set forth.

2. A sectional skimming-trough composed of two or more metal sections and a friable section or sections of refractory material interposed between the metal sections, and sealing plates or slabs arranged on the under side of the trough and extending across said friable sections, substantially as set forth.

3. A skimming-trough having a skimmingbarrier, and composed of adjacent metal sections and a friable section of refractory ma terial, interposed between said metal sections and arranged between the receiving end of the trough and said skim ming-barrier, substantially as set forth.

4. A metallic skimming-trough having a skim ming-barrier,a metal-discharge dam provided in its lower edge with a metal-draining opening which is normally closed by friable material, and a slag-draining aperture which is arranged between the receiving end of the trough and said skimming-barrier and which is normally closed by fria-ble material, suhstantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 22d day of August, 1900.

FRANK E. BACHMAN.

Witnesses:

CARL F. GEYER, CLAUDIA M. BENTLEY. 

